A French father who stuffed his son into a washing machine and then surfed the internet as the toddler died was jailed for 30 years on Friday.
Christophe Champenois, 36, rammed three-year-old Bastien into the device and switched it on, allegedly as punishment for misbehaviour.
The child's 29-year-old mother, Charlene Cotte, told investigators she did a puzzle with her daughter, and Champenois used the internet while their son screamed inside the whirring washing machine.
She was jailed for 12 years, for "aiding and abetting murder and violence".
Cotte said that when her ex-husband removed Bastien from the machine and noticed he was no longer breathing, he said: "At least he won't bother us anymore."
It was Champenois himself who called emergency services in the town of Germigny-l'Eveque, east of Paris, in November 2011, saying he had a "small problem" as his son had fallen down the stairs.
Champenois said he had given his son a bath and that the child must have drowned because he had water coming out of his nostrils.
But the victim's older sister, then five, told the doctor: "Daddy put Bastien in the washing machine because he was naughty at school" -- a version she maintained throughout the investigation.
A neighbour who came to the apartment to help described the child as "frozen, completely naked. He was all white, limp, practically like a toy.
Cotte's lawyer Gerard Zbili described her as a "broken woman who lost the child that she loved" but who was unable to protect him out of fear of her husband.
During the investigation it emerged that the golden-haired Bastien was not wanted by his father, who meted out harsh punishments for his increasingly agitated behaviour at home and at school, such as locking him in a cupboard.
Social services had been repeatedly alerted to the family's case.
"This is not an isolated act... it is not a fit of rage or madness, it is the final act of violence against a child who was always mistreated," said Isabelle Steyer, lawyer for a child protection group, who said Bastien has "fallen through all the cracks."
AFP
Sat Sep 12 2015
![Dad jailed for killing son, 3, in washing machine Dad jailed for killing son, 3, in washing machine](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-09/71442024288_ChristopheChampenoi.jpg)
A court sketch made on September 8, 2015, shows Charlene Cotte (L) and Christophe Champenois (C), the parents of Bastien, a three-year-old boy who died after getting locked in a washing machine by his father as a punishment.
![Pelarasan berperingkat kepada gaji minimum tawar pendekatan seimbang - FMM Pelarasan berperingkat kepada gaji minimum tawar pendekatan seimbang - FMM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/41715247870_SohThianLaijpg.jpg)
Pelarasan berperingkat kepada gaji minimum tawar pendekatan seimbang - FMM
Ia membantu mengelak kejutan terhadap perniagaan terutama yang mungkin tiada fleksibiliti kewangan untuk menyerap kenaikan kos buruh.
![Kerajaan peruntuk RM7.45 juta kerja pembaikan tiga cerun di Gua Musang Kerajaan peruntuk RM7.45 juta kerja pembaikan tiga cerun di Gua Musang](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/81723119891_AhmadMaslan.jpg)
Kerajaan peruntuk RM7.45 juta kerja pembaikan tiga cerun di Gua Musang
Kerajaan memperuntukkan RM7.45 juta bagi kerja pembaikan cerun di Gua Musang yang bakal memberi manfaat kepada hampir 5,000 penduduk.
![JKNT keluar lebih 5,000 notis bawah kawalan rokok sehingga Julai tahun ini JKNT keluar lebih 5,000 notis bawah kawalan rokok sehingga Julai tahun ini](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/61719746052_TBVapingjpg.jpg)
JKNT keluar lebih 5,000 notis bawah kawalan rokok sehingga Julai tahun ini
JKNT keluarkan 5,431 notis bernilai RM1.3 juta berkaitan pelbagai kesalahan hasil pemeriksaan ke atas 15,356 premis melalui 831 operasi penguatkuasaan di seluruh negeri Terengganu.
![Pek sumber kebajikan terap budaya sayangi haiwan Pek sumber kebajikan terap budaya sayangi haiwan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723719935_tbPekSumberKebajik.jpg)
Pek sumber kebajikan terap budaya sayangi haiwan
DVS bangunkan pek sumber kebajikan haiwan sebagai bahan sokongan pengajaran dan pembelajaran di semua prasekolah di bawah KPM seluruh negara.
10 Berita Pilihan - (15 Ogos 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Pasukan PBB lawat Bangladesh, siasat pembunuhan protes pelajar
Pasukan penyiasat Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) akan melawat Bangladesh minggu depan untuk menyiasat ratusan kematian semasa protes yang diketuai pelajar baru-baru ini, menurut pegawai badan dunia itu pada Khamis.
Gempa bumi bermagnitud 5.7 gegar timur laut Taiwan
Gempa bumi berukuran 5.7 skala richter melanda daerah Timur Laut Taiwan pada Khamis.
Angka kematian di Gaza cecah 40,000 individu
Pasukan tentera Israel melakukan tiga pembunuhan beramai-ramai terhadap keluarga-keluarga di Semenanjung Gaza dalam tempoh 24 jam lepas, mengakibatkan sekurang-kurangnya 40 rakyat Palestin terbunuh dan 107 lagi cedera, menurut sumber perubatan.
Jepun tamatkan amaran gempa bumi mega
Dalam tempoh berjaga-jaga, Agensi Meteorologi Jepun tidak melihat sebarang pergerakan gempa bumi yang luar biasa atau kerak bumi.
Rakyat UK terancam dengan imigran rampas peluang pekerjaan
Bimbang golongan imigran akan merampas peluang peluang pekerjaan menjadikan rakyat United KIngdom terutamanya mereka yang mempunyai masalah ekonomi melihat imigran sebagai satu ancaman.
![Bapa bunuh anak dalam mesin basuh dipenjara Bapa bunuh anak dalam mesin basuh dipenjara](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-09/71442024288_ChristopheChampenoi.jpg)
Bapa bunuh anak dalam mesin basuh dipenjara
Seorang bapa berbangsa Perancis yang menyumbat anaknya ke dalam mesih basuh dan melayari Internet ketika kejadian itu dikenakan hukuman penjara selama 30 tahun.